Machine for repairing knitted fabrics



Feb. 2, 1932. J. $.1PECKER 1,343,624

MACHINE FOR REPAIRING KNITTED FABRICS Original Filed April 10, 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 A TTORNE Y.

Feb. 2, 1932. J. s. PECKER 1,843,624

MACHINE FOR REPAIRING KNITTED FABRICS Original Filed April 10, 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Z3 I l 7 J I II 6 n ff 5; i '42 2:5 46 2:- 47 56 zz M f 15 Feb. 2, 1932. J. 5. PECKER MACHINE FOR REPAIRING KNITTED FABRICS s Sheets-Sheet 5 new ATTORNEY.

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Patented Feb. 2, 1%52 narrate stares :rosnrn s. PECKER, or PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO PATENT DE;

earner orrie s:

VELOPMENT 00., A CQRPOEAI'IOK 6F PENNSYLVANIA MACHINE FOR REPAIRING KNITTED FABRICS Original application filed April lo, 1929, Serial No. 354,134. Divided and this application filed February 7, 1930. Serial No. 426,627.

This invention relates to a machine for reprovide a simple, practical and efiicient machine of strong, durable and comparatively inexpensive construction designed particularly for mending the ladder-like runs in silk stockings and capable of enabling a silk stookingto be readily; placed and properly held in position to be operated on by a single needle, and :of automatically feeding the stocking in a direction longitudinally of the run to be mended,.during the mending operation. v

With these and otherobjects in View, the invention consists 1n the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and setforth in the claims-hereto appended, it being understood that various changes in the form, size, and minor details of construction, within the scope of theclaims, may be. resorted to without departing from the spirit of the inven tion or sacrificing any of the advantages thereof. I

In the drawings:

Figure l is a plan View of a stocking mending machine constructed in accordance with this invention. t

Fig. 2 is a central'longitudinal sectional View of the stocking mending machine.

. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view on'the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a detail end view of two of the adjacent links of the stocking supporting and feeding chains.

'Fig. 5 isa side elevation of oneof the links.

Figs. 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 are detail views illus-v trating the-different positions of the needle with relation to thethread during, a'single operation of the machine.

Fig. 11 is an enlarged view of the broken fabric, showing the ladder-like run and the last perfectloop. j v

Fig. 12 is a horizontal sectional View taken substantially on the line 1212 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 13 is a detail plan view of the guide rolls, the foot and the lever which carries the same. Fig. 14 is a detail perspective view of th vertically reciprocating needle bar. 7

In the accompanying drawings, in which is illustrated the preferred embodiment of.

the invention, the stocking mending machine comprises in its construction a slngle vertically movable needle bar 1 mounted in.

a hollow head 2 of a tubular or hollow arm 3 of a suitable frame 4, which may be constructed of any suitable material and can be mounted upon a table or othersuitable support (not shown) in any-desired manner,'as

will be readily understood.

The head 2 is provided at its'top and bottom with vertically aligned. guide openings- 4 through which the needle bar slides, and the latter is equipped at its lower end with a needle 5 detachably secured in a socket 6 of the needle'bar bya set screw 6. In practiee, the head 2' will be of a sectional character to enable the parts to be readily assembled, and the needle bar 1 is provided with a horizontally projecting arm 7 which is en gaged by a coiled spring 8 for yieldably moving the needle bar downwardly. ,The coiled spring 8 is arranged on an adjusting screw 9 and 1s interposed between the arm 7 and the upper wall of the chamber of the hollow head,

and the screw, which is threaded into the top of the head at 10, is provided at its upper end with a groove 11 adapted to receive a screw driver by means of which the scr'ew is adjusted to position a collar 12 at the proper elevation for limiting the downward movement of the needle 5. erably secured ona reduced terminal portion of the screw 9 by a pin 13 or'other suitable:

fastening means, forms a stop or abutment for the arm 7 of the needle bar to limit the downward movement of the needle bar, the coiled springS permitting the needle barto be limited in its downward movement. The

spring 8 yieldingly urges theneedle bar down- The head 12, which is prefagainst which the eccentric roller 14 abuts,

may be formed in any other desired manner. The collar or head-1:5 is mounted on one end of a horizontal shaft 18 journaled in suitable bearings 19 and 20 of the arm 3 of the frame-of the machine,- and preferably provided at the rear end with a combined hand and fly wheel 2-1 of the ordinary construction. The shaft also has mounted on it a grooved pulley 22 preferably formed integral with the hand wheel 21 and: receiving a belt 23 which isalso arranged on: a grooved pulley 240% the power shaft 25 of an electric motor 26 by means of which power is appliedto thes'ha ft 18:ror rotating thesame and actuating the needle bar. When the shaft 18 is rotated, the eccentric roller, when the same moves upwardly,-lifts the'needle bar, and the spring moves the needle bar downwardly during the downward movement or" the eccentric roller; Any other suitable eccentric connection may, or course, be employed for actuating. the needle bar. In practice, the speed or the motor will be controlled by a suitable'treadle-operated rh eostat,so that the needle bar and needle will be reciprocated vertically at the desired speed,

' The needl e'is provided at its lower end with a h oo'kQZ andai-t has a swinging latch 28 pivoted at above the" hook, clearly shown in Figs}. 6 to. 10, inclusive, in which are illustreated the various steps of mending ladderlike' runin silk stockings. When the pivoted latch 28'is open, i t exposes the hook 27, and when the latch. is closed it covers the throat oropeniingleading into the hook and forms an eye; ThelastperfeCt loop 30 of the fabric 31,, is placed in: the hook. 527, as illustrated in Fig; 6 ofthe drawings, and. as the needle descends the loop 30 slides upwardly on the shank of the needle to the position illustrated in Fig. 7 oi the drawings, opening the latch and? moving upon the needle until the latch 28 is released, as illustrated in Fig. 7. The latch when released drops by gravity and falls over the next-cross thread 32 in the broken fabric shown in 11. The loop 30 remainson the shank of the needle, and the needle rises thehook 27 catches the thread as izl llustrated in Fig, 9', and the latch closes over the hoolz, forming an eye encasing or enclosing" and confining the thread 32, as shown: in Fig. 10.- The thread 32 is thenpulled up through the loop 30, forming another loop, and this process is continued until rseaeae all of the cross threads are looped back into the fabric.

The stocking is fed forward during the said operation by feeding mechanism comprising a pair of endless chains composed of similar links 33- arranged on sprocket wheels 34. The sprocket wheels 34 and 35 are arranged in pairs and are mounted on trans-v the stocking to be mended, is placed. The links of the upper flight of the sprocket chains move over lower supporting guides 40 having horizontal upper link-supporting flanges 41 and located at and extending longitudinally of the center of the-space between. the sides of the lower arm, 40, which are spaced apart to provide an intervening space 42 for thepassageof the needle, maintain the links o'r-the upperfiight of the chains in astraight'horizontal posi-- tion while passing beneath the needle arm, and prevent any sagging of the links; The

links, which have transverse ribs 43, are pro vided along their inner side edges with a toothed gauge 44 consisting oi tapering up wardly projecting lugs formed integrab with ihe ribs and adapted toexten'd between the threads of arun in a silk stocking or other piece of fabric, whereby thethreads'which are to-be'looped' in the mending of thefabric are maintained in proper spaced relation soas to be in position to be operated on by the needle 5. The links are hinged together at their end portions by suitabl'e-trans v'ersepins or pivots 45 which pass through registering perforations of side flanges 46* of the links, and connecting plates 47 which are located at the inner faces of the side flangesozfl" the links. The links are provided at their inner sides with lateral extensions 48- which project over and slide along the;- horizontal flanges 41 of the lower guides 40.

The ribs 43 are substantially semi-cylindrical incross section, and present rounded upper faces and intervening thread-reeeiving grooves, as clearly illustrated in Fig; 5- of the drawings. The stocking to be mended is drawn over the lower arm and the run is arranged on the toothed gauge 44 formed by the projecting lugs of the links. The stocking is held down in proper position upon the upper flight of the sprocket chains by means of upper guides 49 and guide rolls 50 provided at their peripheries with teeth 51 consisting of transverse ribs extending across the peripheries of the rolls and cooperating with the ribs 43 of the links. Eaclrguide 49' consists The lower guides of a horizontal foot having an upwardly curved terminal portion and preferably pro vided with an attaching portion 52 secured to the front end of a lever 53 on which the guide rolls 50 are also secured. The lever 53 is fulcrumed intermediate its ends at 54;, and is provided with a shaft 55 upon which the guide rolls are mounted; The upper guides 4-9 form a foot which engages the stocking and maintains it in proper position during the mending operation, and the rolls 50 assist in guiding and feeding the stocking during the passage of the same beneath the needle.

A step by step feeding movement is imparted to the endless chains by ratchet mechanism comprising an oscillating lever 56 piv oted at one end on a transverse shaft 5'? upon which is mounted a ratchet wheel 58 and a pinion 59. The shaft 57 is journaled in suitable hearings on the lower arm, and the pinion 59 meshes with a gear wheel 60, keyed or otherwise secured to the shaft 36, to which the sprocket wheel 34 is also keyed. The lever 56 extends longitudinally from the lowor arm and is connected by a rod 61 with an eccentric 62 mounted on the shaft 18, whereby when the'shaft 18 is rotated, oscillating movement will be transmitted to the lever The lever 56 carries a pawl 63 pivoted to the lever 56 at the lower edge thereof by a suitable pin or pivot 64 and maintained in engagement with the ratchet wheel 58 by a spring 65 which may be a coiled spring, as illustrated in Fig. v2 of the drawings, but any other form of spring or yiel-dable means may be employed for maintaining the pawl in engagement with the ratchet wheel. When the lever 56 is moved upwardly by the eccentric 6:2 of the shaft 18, the ratchet wheel will be rotated a distance equal to the throw of the oscillation, and when the lever 56 moves downwardly the pawl will close over the ratchet wheel 58 and the latter will not be rotated during such movement The feeding mechanism thus moves the chains step by step in the direction of the arrow A in Fig. 2 of the drawings.

The upper guides and the guide rolls are maintained in engagement with the stocking to be mended by a coiled spring 66 connected with the rearwardly extended arm of the lever 53 and secured to the upper arm of the frame. he spring (36 permits the forwardly extendingarm of the lever 53,130 be swung upwardly to enable a stocking to e placed on and removed from the low-er arm. The rearwardly extending arm of the lever 53 is connected by a rod 67 with a suitable treadle (not shown) for enabling the forwardly ext-ending arm of the lever 53 and the guiding means carried thereby to be raised and lowered by the operator.

lVhile the machine is designed particularly for. use in repairing the runs in silk stockings, it will be understood that it maybeemployed for repairing various other knitted fabrics and is not limited to repairing stock One form of needle is'illustrate'd in the accompanying drawings, but various other forms of needles may be employed, whetherprovided with latches or of a construction not employing latches.

The needle, which is held in position by the knurled head set screw 6, is vertically adjustable in the socket 6 in the lower end of the vertically reciprocating needle bar. for the purpose of arranging the needle in proper position with relation to the stitch and to the fabric to be repaired;

The knurled head set screw performs the double function of securely holding the needle in the socket of the vertically reciprocating needle bar, and of rendering the needle adjustable with respect to the needle bar.

What is claimed is:

1. A machine for mending runs in fabrics, including a reciprocating needle provided with means for looping the threads of a run in a fabric, and feeding mechanism comprising a pair of endless chains having their links arranged side by side and provided with laterally extending inwardlyprojecting portions spaced apart to provide an intervening space for the passage of the needle, and a centrally arranged stationary guide having rigid flanges spaced apart at the said intervening space and arranged beneath and supporting the links at the inner projecting portions thereof and extending in advance and in rear of the needle.

2. A machine for mending runs in fabrics including a reciprocating needle provided with means for looping the threads of a run in a fabric, feeding mechanism comprising a pair of endless chains having their links arranged side by side and provided at the outer portions with spaced flanges and connecting plates, said links being provided with inwardly extending laterally projecting portions spaced apart to provide an intervening space for the passage of the needle, and a centrally arranged stationary guide having rigid supporting flanges receiving the inner portions of the links and spaced apart at the said intervening space and extending in advance and in rear of the needle. I

8. A machine for mending runs in fabrics, including a reciprocating needle provided with means for looping the threads of arun in a fabric, feeding mechanism including a feeding element adapted to receive a fabric to be mended, a longitudinally disposed approximately horizontal lever pivoted intermediate of its ends to provide front and rear arms, the front arm being provided with means for holding the fabric on the feeding mechanism, a spring connected with the rear arm and arranged to urge the holding means against the fabric with a constant pressure, and: operating means connected with the rear arm-0f the lever for lifting the holding means from the fabric.v

In testimony whereof I have hereunto aifixed my; Sign ature;

JOSEPH S. BECKER. 

